Meet the Team

Here are the people who make this blog happen:

Sam King – Research Funding and Policy Manager: Sam is the main point of contact for funding development for the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. Sam provides development support for research applications to all funders, including EU, UK and international. Before coming to Northumbria Sam worked at Newcastle University as a Project Manager in a business focused nanotechnology centre, prior to that in Research & Enterprise Services.

David Young – Research Funding and Policy Manager: David is the main point of contact for funding development in the Faculty of Engineering and Environment. David provides development support for research applications to all funders, including EU, UK and international. Prior to Northumbria, David worked at the University of Lincoln in a similar research support role. He has also worked as a Grants Officer for the Big Lottery Fund, in grant-giving rather than getting. He completed an AHRC-funded PhD in Linguistics at Newcastle University in 2006.

Alona Welby – Research Funding and Policy Manager: Alona is the main point of contact for funding development in the Faculty of Business and Law. She provides development support for research applications to all funders, including EU, UK and international. Alona worked in Brussels for ten years on EU funding, policy development and advocacy, and has managed a large UK government-funded project at the University of Birmingham. She is also a qualified counsellor, a role that comes in handy when working with people grappling with research funding.

Scott McGee – Research Funding and Policy Manager: Scott is the main point of contact for funding development in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Social Sciences. Scott provides development support and training for research applications to all funders, including EU, UK and international. He relocated from the University of Liverpool where he had worked in the Research Support Office for the last 5 years. Prior to this he had toyed with being an English teacher, and has worked for Merseyside Police, Barclays Bank and the NHS.

Lucy Jowett – Research Impact Manager: Lucy provides support and training so that the University’s knowledge exchange and public engagement are informed by excellent research. The aim is to realise and evidence the impact of Northumbria’s research on the economy and society. Before this she worked in Research and Business Services on business and engagement projects and has a background in building cross-sector partnerships and translating strategy into action in a variety of organisations in North East England.

Alisha Peart – Research Impact Manager (STEM): Alisha provides support and training to ensure Northumbria is able to fully realise and evidence the impact of its research on health, society and the economy. Alisha moved into this role from Northumbria’s Pre Award Team where she supported European and Multi Partner proposal. Prior to this, Alisha spent 8 years working in the FE sector developing, co-authoring and project managing large multi partner EU and UK government projects (circa £7M each). Before joining the Education Sector, Alisha spent 6 years working in Industry within the Business Development arena. Alisha.peart@northumbria.ac.uk

Laura Hutchinson – Research Development Manager: Laura delivers researcher development training to research Staff and PGRs and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has worked with colleagues across Northumbria to develop the Research Ethics and Governance online system soon to be rolled out across the University. Laura is also a PhD student within the Centre for International Development here at Northumbria, whose research interests are focused on women’s activism and identities, colonial and post-colonial histories, political economy and feminist methodologies.

Gill Drinkald – Research Support Co-ordinator: Gill supported Northumbria’s submission to REF 2014. She supports the Working Group for the Concordat to support the career development for researchers and helps support Northumbria’s Centres for Doctoral Training. Gill works closely with Faculty Research Ethics Directors and with colleagues across the university to develop the Research Ethics and Governance online system and is Secretary to Northumbria’s Research Ethics Committee,

Sarah Agnew – Research Administrator (Ethics): Sarah is the main point of contact for research ethics for the Faculty of Engineering and Environment and the Faculty of Business and Law. She also provides administrative support for the Professional Development and Researcher Training Programme. Prior to Northumbria Sarah worked at Newcastle University in research support, and has 11 years experience in working in North East public sector organisations. Sarah has a specific interest in Training and Development and has a City and Guilds in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector.